Inside Pediatrics Spring/Summer 2026

UROLOGY

F or families of children with bladder and bowel dysfunction, the journey to care at Children’s of Alabama can involve a long drive, a crowded waiting room, and the worry that the problem was serious—only to be told that what their child needs most is better bathroom habits. “We have a really wide catchment area,” said Children’s chief of pediatric urology Stacy Tanaka, M.D. “Sometimes we were seeing families coming in from the coast. They had driven three-and-a-half, four hours.” By the time they arrived, parked and waited, an entire day was lost and the advice they received was, well, less than earth-shattering. “They get here, and you tell them, ‘Hey, you just need to urinate and poop a little bit better,’” she said. “It doesn’t go over that well sometimes.” In fact, it could have been handled by a phone call.

Stacy Tanaka, M.D.

Today, that’s essentially how they handle it. Tanaka and nurse practitioner Kelsey Boswell Moore, CRNP, see more than 20 patients each week via telehealth.

Kelsey Boswell Moore, CRNP

22